Game Review: Adventures of Pip (Wii-U)

What can I say about Adventures of Pip? The first word that comes to mind is AWESOME!!

If you like the classic side scroll screen, single player, kill everything in your way, challenging game; then this one is a must play. While there is no physical copy (for those that collect them like myself) you are able to download it for a very reasonable price.

I first demo’d Adventures of Pip at PaxPrime in 2014 and instantly fell in love with it. As a platform game enthusiast this game was right up my alley. While David was interviewing one of the game Devs I went over to the other screen and starting playing it all by myself without any instruction what-so-ever. The guy there was surprised that I was able to find all the hidden villagers (I had to kill myself once so that I would be able to get him-but I knew how). When leaving the booth I was telling David that we needed to get a PS4 so that we could do the beta testing. He unfortunately told me we had to wait. The day it came out on WiiU I bought it and played the first few levels right then and there. To this day the t-shirt I got from them is my favorite!!

In Adventures of Pip you have to save the people of you village from Queen DeRezza who turned all the town folk into single pixels. As you progress in the game you go from the single pixel character to an 8-bit character then to your final form of a 32-bit character. You can evolve and devolve as often as you need to as each character has unique qualities. You evolve by killing certain enemies (they ‘glow’ blue) and devolve as you see fit. So make sure you don’t devolve at a time when you actually need the 8-bit or 32-bit character as you will be doing a lot of backtracking; as the blue enemies are strategically placed. If you are running low on health make sure to find some food to restore it or hit one of the many save points in the level.

As stated before each character has unique abilities. Single pixel state allows you to get in tight places; jump higher when using the spring boards and you can jump longer/control your descent. 8-bit state allows you to scale walls by jumping from one wall to the other; hold onto the walls; punch, kick and you move much faster than the single pixel. 32-bit state gives you a sword and the ability to move certain blocks.

Make your way through different obstacles in each level/which get more challenging as you go. Collect the pixels from the chests (most times they are hidden) the ones the bugs give you when you kill them and the ones from the plant life as you destroy the pretty flowers. Use these pixels to buy potions from your village. The potions come in handy when fighting the bosses and when you are trying to get through obstacles and do not want to die. Don’t go crazy on using them as there are MANY checkpoints throughout the levels.

There are also 3 villagers lost in each level. When you first start out they are very noticeable but as you progress they get harder and harder to find; so make sure you are checking every nook and cranny for them. They can be hiding in walls, underground or in spots that seem impossible to get to, but don’t fret, stop and think as you can always find a way. This made me think of Super Mario World with all the secrets hidden in the walls.

The creative team did an amazing job on the 2D graphics. Even the single pixel characters have personality. The soundtrack fits right I and does not get annoying like some other games. The music plays a big part in any game, it sets the mood and helps motivate you.

While I have put in a decent amount of time I am not even halfway yet (darn family and work interrupting my gaming time!). If I have some free me time this is what occupies it. Adventures of Pip is still in my top 3 games I took away from PaxPrime last year. I look forward to playing some more games from TicToc Games.

Overall Adventures of Pip is a well thought out and executed platform game; especially for the lovers of classic platform games.